The Wolves and the Fathers Read Twilight
by Good-Book-Eater
Summary: Carlisle, Quil Senior, Billy, Charlie, Sam, Emily, Leah, Paul, Jared, Jacob, Quil Junior, Embry, and Seth read the Twilgiht series. This is the first one! Co-written by "luna and dean-endlesslove7"
1. Discovery

AN: Okay we wanted to write about how we thought the wolves would react if they read the twilight series. We are not likely going to write about what happens after they read it though. Lets say they have there memory's wiped! This is a pointless "what would they think" kind of Fanfiction.

Co-written by my little sister "luna and dean-endlesslove7"

Disclaimer: We do not own twilight or the characters. *Tear!

I just added a character.

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Discovery

Sam and Jared were patrolling the woods around La Push as Paul slept. Their minds were focused on the forest around them as the sun rose. After many long boring hours of running they were ready to go home and sleep. Sam was about to call the patrolling to a stop when he saw a brown box sitting in between two identical trees.

At first he thought it was just trash until he realized it was in perfect condition and sealed shut. He approached it quickly telling Jared to check around the box for a scent of the owner. Sam was more than surprised by what was written on the top of the box.

For: Carlisle Cullen, Quil Ateara Senior, Billy Black, Harry Clearwater, Charlie Swan, Sam Uley,

Emily Clearwater, Leah Clearwater, Paul Raine, Jared Lawson, Jacob Black, Quil Ateara Junior,

Embry Call, and Seth Clearwater. Please read the books in the box together as soon as possible.

Meet at Charlie's house.

_There's_ _no foreign scent out here_. Jared said running back to Sam.

Sam and Jared looked blankly at each other not sure what to make of the box.

_Maybe we should call a council meeting. _Jared suggested. Sam agreed and, after changing into his human form, dressing, and grabbing the box, they headed to Sam's to call everyone.

* * *

Billy, Harry, and Old Quil thought it best to open the box and see what kind of books they were before they called anyone. They hoped by reading the back they could find out why they were suppose to read them. Sam pulled the box open and found four books. He took them out and read the titles out loud.

"Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. Doesn't tell us much, does it?"

"Read the back of the first one, Sam." Billy instructed.

**About three things I was absolutely positive.**

**First, Edward was a vampire. **

"Edward Cullen?" Jared asked confused.

"No way!" Paul yelled. "How is that possible?"

"Let me finish reading it." Sam gave them both a hard look and then continued.

**Second, there was a part of him-**

**and I didn't know how dominant that part might be- that thirsted for my blood**.

**And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.**

"Isn't that bloodsucker alone? I didn't know he has a mate." Jared looked at Billy who's eyes went hard.

"He doesn't."

**In the first book of the Twilight Saga Bella Swan**

"That's Charlie's daughter." Billy's glare intensified. "What does she have to do with Edward Cullen?"

**and Edward Cullen, a pair of star-crossed lovers **

"What?!" Jared and Paul yelped incredulous.

"No way!" Sam growled.

"No!" Billy yelled furious and worried.

Old Quil Ateara and Harry merely glared at the book.

**whose forbidden relationship ripens against the backdrop of a small-town suspicion and a mysterious coven of vampires. This is a love story with bite.**

After a few curse's and grumbles Billy cleared his throat.

"What are we going to do?"

"Read it I guess." Sam shrugged.

"The box says to have others read it with us. That would mean they would be let in on the vampire secret and we promised that we wouldn't tell anyone. We also have the problem that werewolves might be revealed." Billy said.

"Are we assuming this book is telling the future?" Jared asked.

"I guess. It couldn't hurt to read it whether it's fact or fiction."

"It could hurt to let others read it." Sam said.

"Umm…" Old Quil spoke up. "We can have them promise they will stay quite. The kids from the reservation will just realize that the legends are true. Carlisle might realize that there are wolves again, but this is about his family to. He has a right to know. And Charlie deserves the truth for once, especially if this is true."

Everyone nodded and stood. Harry called Charlie and asked if a few people could come over at noon and Charlie said an enthusiastic yes. Billy called Carlisle and after a short and awkward conversation, Carlisle agreed to meet them at Charlie's. Jared then drove Billy to pick up Jacob, Quil, and Embry. Sam went to pick up Emily, Leah and Seth and Harry drove Paul and Old Quil, along with the books, over to Charlie's house.

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AN: We will update soon! Have a good day.


	2. Informing Charlie and Preface

AN: Hey everyone here it is, Chapter three!!

Co-written by my little sister "luna and dean-endlesslove7"

Disclaimer: We do not own twilight or the characters. *Tear!

* * *

Informing Charlie and Preface

Charlie watched in stunned silence as his living room filled with people. The three bags of chips on the coffee table were already gone and one of the kids from the reservation was digging through his fridge.

When Billy, Jacob, and two other boys from the reservation entered through the open door Charlie shook his head. "When Harry said a few people I was expecting three or four what are you all doing here?"

Billy looked around and noted that only one person was missing. Turning back to Charlie he said, "Sorry Charlie. Harry should have told you how many people were coming, but we were in a hurry." Billy saw Jared then. "Jared, get out of the fridge! What are you an animal?"

Billy heard Jared mutter quietly, "Only half animal." Before he closed the fridge and returned to the living room. Billy sighed then addressed Charlie, "We will explain when Dr. Cullen arrives."

"I thought you guys didn't like him. Why is he coming?" Charlie asked. Before Billy could answer they both heard the engine of a car. Charlie and Billy watched as Carlisle stepped out of his car and walked up the drive.

Charlie smiled and held out his hand, "Good afternoon, Dr. Cullen. How are you?" He asked as Carlisle closed the door behind him.

"I'm alright, Chief swan." He smiled pleasantly. "And call me Carlisle, please."

"Alright, Carlisle. Then it's Charlie to you." Charlie smiled and Carlisle nodded.

Charlie, followed by Carlisle, pushed Billy into the living room where four people had already crammed themselves onto the sofa. And the rest were either sitting on the floor in front of the couch or standing behind it. Charlie pushed Billy's wheelchair beside the couch and offered his armchair to Carlisle who politely declined it and stood awkwardly between the couch and armchair.

"Charlie," Billy spoke up and motioned to a girl standing a little further away from the couch then the others with a scowl on her face and a boy with a happy smile practically bouncing with excitement. "You know Leah, and Seth. Beside Seth is Jared and then Paul." He pointed to the two huge boys who were staring angrily at Carlisle. Billy gestured to the couple beside Harry and Old Quil on the couch. "You've met Sam and Emily." Then Billy looked at the three sitting in front of the couch. "And those two are Jacob's friends, Quil and Embry."

Charlie nodded to each of them, offering a smile now and then. There was a short silence before Harry spoke up. "Sam found something interesting when he was…exploring the woods around the reservation today. Get the box out, Jared." Jared picked up the box at his feet and passed it to Sam. Harry continued, "It is addressed to everyone in this room."

Everyone who wasn't at the council meeting looked at the box in confusion. They passed the box around so everyone could see there names. When Sam got the box back he took out the books.

"The box," Billy began, "said to read them together. They seem to be about the future." Billy looked at Carlisle for a second then Charlie. They both looked confused. "It appears to be about Edward Cullen and your daughter, Bella."

"What?" Was all Charlie could say.

"Well, didn't Bella call yesterday and ask if she could finish high school here?" Billy asked.

"Well, yes." Charlie said looking stunned and confused. "But what do you mean the future?"

"If we read, Charlie," Carlisle said, still looking confused himself, "maybe we will get a better idea."

The kids from the reservation looked even more confused than the adults, but kept quiet as Sam passed the first book to Charlie. "You should read first, sir. It's from Bella perspective." Charlie took it slowly then looked around.

"There are chairs in the kitchen if the ones standing want to sit down." The four standing behind the couch thanked him and brought the chairs into the front room sitting them in a u-shape between Billy's chair and the sofa. Carlisle, keeping up pretenses, sat opposite them on the floor.

Then Charlie opened the book and read, **"Twilight. **_**But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Genesis 2:17**_

"**Preface. ****I'd never given much thought to how I would die —**

"She's a teenager why would she?" Jared said.

**though I'd had reason enough in the last few months — **

"Why?" Charlie asked. The others just shrugged.

**but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this.**

**I stared without breathing across the long room, into the dark eyes of the hunter, and he looked pleasantly back at me.**

Charlie was looking worried while the wolves and elders were glaring at Carlisle.

Carlisle looked worried too.

**Surely it was a good way to die, in the place of someone else, someone I loved. Noble, even. That ought to count for something.**

The wolves all glanced at each other and nodded.

**I knew that if I'd never gone to Forks, I wouldn't be facing death now. **

"She's going to die because she came to Forks?" Quil frowned confused.

"Something must happen here that can't happen in Arizona." Seth shrugged.

**But, terrified as I was, I couldn't bring myself to regret the decision. When life offers you a dream so far beyond any of your expectations, it's not reasonable to grieve when it comes to an end.**

"What dream?" Paul asked.

**The hunter smiled in a friendly way as he sauntered forward to kill me."**

"How cheerful." Embry remarked sarcastically.

Charlie and Carlisle were now looking extremely distressed. While the wolves and the elders looked angry and sad. The others looked confused and in Leah's case unconcerned.

"What a way to start a book!" Quil laughed.


	3. First Sight

AN: Okay I added Harry Clearwater to the last chapter before I posted this chapter. He is in the council to, but he was such a minor character that I forgot about him, sorry! Since I have a lot of people reading a person might only talk once or twice the entire chapter, but bare with me I'm trying to get them all to talk at least three times. Harry and Old Quil are mostly just observers, so they won't be talking much and I doubt Leah will talk at all. She fell sleep the moment she sat down or something. I think I'm going to take her out all together, I'm not sure how she fits in, so tell me what you think in a review. Anyway here is the third chapter!

Co-written by my little sister "Luna and Dean~Endlesslove7"

Disclaimer: We do not own twilight or the characters. *Tear!

* * *

First Sight

"**Chapter 1, First Sight," **Charlie continued.

**My mother drove me to the airport with the windows rolled down. It was seventy-five degrees in Phoenix, the sky a perfect, cloudless blue. I was wearing my favorite shirt — sleeveless, white eyelet lace; **

"She's going to be cold in that." Seth said.

**I was wearing it as a farewell gesture. **

"That sounds like Bella." Charlie mumbled.

**My carry-on item was a parka.**

"That's better." Quil smiled.

"Alice would cry in shame." Carlisle murmured just loud enough for the humans to hear.

Charlie gave him a small smile before continuing.

**In the Olympic Peninsula of northwest Washington State, a small town named Forks exists under a near-constant cover of clouds. It rains on this inconsequential town more than any other place in the United States of America. It was from this town and its gloomy, omnipresent shade that my mother escaped with me when I was only a few months old. **

Charlie grimaced. Billy shot him a sad look and patted his arm.

**It was in this town that I'd been compelled to spend a month every summer until I was fourteen. That was the year I finally put my foot down; these past three summers, my dad, Charlie,** **vacationed with me in California for two weeks instead.**

"She sounds quite stubborn Charlie." Carlisle smiled and tried to ignore the stares he was receiving. He noticed that the elders weren't the only once glaring. The older boys seem to know and believe the stories to.

"When she wants something she won't back down. She sticks by her decision." Charlie grinned.

**It was to Forks that I now exiled myself— an action that I took with great horror. I detested Forks.**

Charlie sighed sadly.

**I loved Phoenix. I loved the sun and the blistering heat. I loved the vigorous, sprawling city.**

"Mr. Swan," Quil asked hesitantly. "If Bella loves Phoenix and hates Forks then why is she moving here?"

Charlie shrugged. "She told me it was because she wanted to give her mom and Phil, Renee's new husband, some alone time."

Quil nodded still looking confused.

**"Bella," my mom said to me — the last of a thousand times — before I got on the plane. "You don't have to do this."**

"Her mom wants her to stay? I thought Renee wanted alone time with her new husband?" Jared asked.

"She probably does, but she doesn't want her daughter to leave." Emily said.

"I'm confused." Paul shrugged. "But continue reading anyway."

**My mom looks like me, except with short hair and laugh lines. I felt a spasm of panic as I stared at her wide, childlike eyes. How could I leave my loving, erratic, harebrained mother to fend for herself?** **Of course she had Phil now, so the bills would probably get paid, there would be food in the refrigerator, gas in her car, and someone to call when she got lost, but still…**

"She sounds like the mother in the relationship." Jared laughed.

"Well Bella is the more responsible of the two." Charlie laughed.

**"I want to go," I lied. I'd always been a bad liar, but I'd been saying this lie so frequently lately that it sounded almost convincing now.**

Carlisle patted Charlie on the back when he grimaced this time. Charlie smiled gratefully before continuing.

**"Tell Charlie I said hi."**

**"I will."**

"Do you guys get along?" Sam asked.

Charlie nodded. "Yes, we do. At first it was strained, but with Bella around it got better."

**"I'll see you soon," she insisted. "You can come home whenever you want — I'll come right back as soon as you need me."**

**But I could see the sacrifice in her eyes behind the promise.**

**"Don't worry about me," I urged. "It'll be great. I love you, Mom."**

**She hugged me tightly for a minute, and then I got on the plane, and she was gone.**

**It's a four-hour flight from Phoenix to Seattle, another hour in a small plane up to Port Angeles, and then an hour drive back down to Forks. Flying doesn't bother me; the hour in the car with Charlie, though, I was a little worried about.**

"Why?" Paul asked.

"Well neither of us are vary talkative for one…" Charlie said before reading.

**Charlie had really been fairly nice about the whole thing. He seemed genuinely pleased that I was coming to live with him for the first time with any degree of permanence.**

"I am pleased." Charlie mumbled.

**He'd already gotten me registered for high school and was going to help me get a car.**

"Already bought a car." Jacob smiled. "Thanks for taking it Charlie!"

Charlie chuckled, "Your welcome."

**But it was sure to be awkward with Charlie. Neither of us was what anyone would call verbose, and I didn't know what there was to say regardless. I knew he was more than a little confused by my decision — like my mother before me, I hadn't made a secret of my distaste for Forks.**

**When I landed in Port Angeles, it was raining. I didn't see it as an omen — just unavoidable. I'd already said my goodbyes to the sun.**

"Bella seems sensible, Charlie." Carlisle smiled at the grin Charlie directed at him.

**Charlie was waiting for me with the cruiser. This I was expecting, too. Charlie is Police Chief Swan to the good people of Forks. My primary motivation behind buying a car, despite the scarcity of my funds, was that I refused to be driven around town in a car with red and blue lights on top. Nothing slows down traffic like a cop.**

"That's for sure!" Seth smirked playfully at Charlie, who merely shrugged.

**Charlie gave me an awkward, one-armed hug when I stumbled my way off the plane.**

"Ahh same old Bella." Charlie grinned. Upon seeing the confused looks he was receiving he said, "Bella has always been a klutz."

**"It's good to see you, Bells," he said, smiling as he automatically caught and steadied me.**

"I've had plenty of experience." Charlie smirked.

**"You haven't changed much. How's Renée?"**

**"Mom's fine. It's good to see you, too, Dad." I wasn't allowed to call him Charlie to his face.**

"Do you mind that she calls you Charlie to everyone else?" Sam asked.

Charlie thought for a second and then said, "Sort of. But I understand." He sighed sadly. "We don't really know each other well."

Sam nodded and Charlie went back to the book.

**I had only a few bags. Most of my Arizona clothes were too permeable for Washington. My mom and I had pooled our resources to supplement my winter wardrobe, but it was still scanty. It all fit easily into the trunk of the cruiser.**

**"I found a good car for you, really cheap," he announced when we were strapped in.**

**"What kind of car?" I was suspicious of the way he said "good car for you" as opposed to just "good car."**

"She's perceptive too." Carlisle smiled.

""Yes she is." Charlie nodded.

**"Well, it's a truck actually, a Chevy."**

**"Where did you find it?"**

**"Do you remember Billy Black down at La Push?" **

**La Push is the tiny Indian reservation on the coast.**

**"No."**

"Understandable. She was quite young last time we met." Billy smiled.

**"He used to go fishing with us during the summer," Charlie prompted.**

**That would explain why I didn't remember him. I do a good job of blocking painful, unnecessary things from my memory.**

They all chuckled.

**"He's in a wheelchair now," Charlie continued when I didn't respond, "so he can't drive anymore, and he offered to sell me his truck cheap."**

**"What year is it?" I could see from his change of expression that this was the question he was hoping I wouldn't ask.**

"Well it is really old." Jacob said.

**"Well, Billy's done a lot of work on the engine — it's only a few years old, really."**

"Billy didn't do any work on it!" Jacob cried. "I did it all."

"Sorry Jacob, I'll be sure to tell her when this is really happening." Charlie laughed.

**I hoped he didn't think so little of me as to believe I would give up that easily.**

"Of course not. Not until you have all the information you want." Charlie grinned and shock his head.

**"When did he buy it?"**

**"He bought it in 1984, I think."**

**"Did he buy it new?"**

"Charlie, I think you should just tell her, she sounds determined." Quil chuckled.

**"Well, no. I think it was new in the early sixties — or late fifties at the earliest," he admitted sheepishly.**

"That is awful!" Paul exclaimed.

**"Ch — Dad, I don't really know anything about cars. I wouldn't be able to fix it if anything went wrong, and I couldn't afford a mechanic…"**

**"Really, Bella, the thing runs great. They don't build them like that anymore."**

**The thing, I thought to myself… it had possibilities — as a nickname, at the very least.**

Everyone chuckled.

**"How cheap is cheap?" After all, that was the part I couldn't compromise on.**

"I already bought it." Charlie smiled.

**"Well, honey, I kind of already bought it for you. As a homecoming gift." Charlie peeked sideways at me with a hopeful expression.**

**Wow. Free.**

**"You didn't need to do that, Dad. I was going to buy myself a car."**

**"I don't mind. I want you to be happy here." He was looking ahead at the road when he said this. Charlie wasn't comfortable with expressing his emotions out loud. I inherited that from him. So I was looking straight ahead as I responded.**

"You guys have a weird relationship." Sam said.

Charlie just smiled a little and nodded.

**"That's really nice, Dad. Thanks. I really appreciate it." No need to add that my being happy in Forks is an impossibility. **

"Well isn't she a ray of sunshine." Jared laughed.

**He didn't need to suffer along with me.**

"Well at least she's not complaining out loud." Emily reasoned.

**And I never looked a free truck in the mouth — or engine.**

A few boys chuckled and the other smiled.

**"Well, now, you're welcome," he mumbled, embarrassed by my thanks.**

**We exchanged a few more comments on the weather, **

"Wow riveting." Paul muttered.

**which was wet, **

"That's all it ever is." Jake grinned.

**and that was pretty much it for Conversation. We stared out the windows in silence.**

**It was beautiful, of course; I couldn't deny that. **

"It is beautiful here." Carlisle smiled.

Charlie and Billy nodded.

**Everything was green: the trees, their trunks covered with moss, their branches hanging with a canopy of it, the ground covered with ferns. Even the air filtered down greenly through the leaves.**

**It was too green — an alien planet.**

"Too green?" Jared asked. "How can it be to green?"

"She lived in Arizona. There's not a lot of green there, moron." Paul smirked.

"Wow Paul, I never thought I'd see the day where you knew an answer to a question." Sam sneered at Paul's glare.

"Oh ha ha, Sam." He mumbled.

**Eventually we made it to Charlie's. He still lived in the small, two-bedroom house that he'd bought with my mother in the early days of their marriage. Those were the only kind of days their marriage had — the early ones. **

"How long were you guys married?" Quil asked.

Jacob elbowed him in the ribs and whispered, "Shut up." Quil glared at him but looked embarrassed.

Charlie, looking slightly uncomfortable said, "We were married a little over a year." Then went back to reading.

**There, parked on the street in front of the house that never changed, was my new — well, new to me — truck. It was a faded red color, with big, rounded fenders and a bulbous cab. **

"How awful!" Paul yelled.

**To my intense surprise, I loved it. **

"WHAT!?" The non-wolf Quileute's yelled.

"How can she like that…that… thing?" Paul asked.

Jared shook his head sadly, "I do not know."

Charlie was smiling happily.

**I didn't know if it would run, but I could see myself in it. Plus, it was one of those solid iron affairs that never gets damaged — the kind you see at the scene of an accident, paint unscratched, surrounded by the pieces of the foreign car it had destroyed.**

"Just what a clumsy person needs." Charlie smiled.

**"Wow, Dad, I love it! Thanks!" Now my horrific day tomorrow would be just that much less dreadful. I wouldn't be faced with the choice of either walking two miles in the rain to school or accepting a ride in the Chief's cruiser.**

"Nothings wrong with my cruiser." Charlie grumbled.

"Of course not, Charlie." Carlisle smiled. "But think of it from Bella's point of view, for a second. She is already going to be stared at when she gets to school, she doesn't need more attention by having her Chief of police father drive her to school in an attention grabbing cruiser."

"Yeah your right." Charlie half-smiled. "I guess you have experience thinking from the teenagers point of view with all your kids."

Carlisle gave a small smile and shock his head, "You have no idea how hard it is living with five teenagers. You have to be careful with every topic so you don't offend anyone. But at least they are all good kids and not trouble makers."

"Thank God for small favors." Charlie smiled.

"Trust me I do." Carlisle chuckled.

**"I'm glad you like it," Charlie said gruffly, embarrassed again.**

**It took only one trip to get all my stuff upstairs. I got the west bedroom that faced out over the front yard. The room was familiar; it had been belonged to me since I was born.**

**The wooden floor, the light blue walls, the peaked ceiling, the yellowed lace curtains around the window — these were all a part of my childhood. The only changes Charlie had ever made were switching the crib for a bed and adding a desk as I grew. The desk now held a secondhand computer, with the phone line for the modem stapled along the floor to the nearest phone jack. This was a stipulation from my mother, so that we could stay in touch easily. The rocking chair from my baby days was still in the corner.**

**There was only one small bathroom at the top of the stairs, which I would have to share with Charlie. I was trying not to dwell too much on that fact.**

**One of the best things about Charlie is he doesn't hover.** **He left me alone to unpack and get settled, a feat that would have been altogether impossible for my mother. It was nice to be alone, not to have to smile and look pleased; a relief to stare dejectedly out the window at the sheeting rain and let just a few tears escape. I wasn't in the mood to go on a real crying jag. **

Charlie frowned. He didn't want her to be here if she hated it. He wanted her to be happy.

**I would save that for bedtime, when I would have to think about the coming morning.**

Charlie sighed and Billy patted his shoulder.

**Forks High School had a frightening total of only three hundred and fifty-seven — now fifty-eight — students; **

"What's frightening about that?" Embry asked. "Compared to phoenix that's got to be small."

Carlisle looked thoughtful for a second and then said, "That's probably why it's frightening to her. Everyone knows everyone here. Meaning she will be the center of attention longer."

"Oh." Embry nodded.

**there were more than seven hundred people in my junior class alone back home. All of the kids here had grown up together — their grandparents had been toddlers together.** **I would be the new girl from the big city, a curiosity, a freak.**

Carlisle nodded satisfied he was right, but frowned feeling bad for Bella.

**Maybe, if I looked like a girl from Phoenix should, I could work this to my advantage.** **But physically, I'd never fit in anywhere. I should be tan, sporty, blond — a volleyball player, or a cheerleader, perhaps — all the things that go with living in the valley of the sun.**

Charlie frowned, "Everyone looks different. Not everyone from Phoenix looks like that."

**Instead, I was ivory-skinned, without even the excuse of blue eyes or red hair, despite the constant sunshine. I had always been slender, but soft somehow, obviously not an athlete; I didn't have the necessary hand-eye coordination to play sports without humiliating myself — and harming both myself and anyone else who stood too close.**

Charlie chuckled a little despite being worried about Bella's insecurities he found her clumsiness adorable.

**When I finished putting my clothes in the old pine dresser, I took my bag of bathroom necessities and went to the communal bathroom to clean myself up after the day of travel.** **I looked at my face in the mirror as I brushed through my tangled, damp hair. Maybe it was the light, but already I looked sallower, unhealthy. My skin could be pretty — it was very clear, almost translucent-looking —but it all depended on color. I had no color here.**

"Not many people do here." Carlisle chuckled.

**Facing my pallid reflection in the mirror, I was forced to admit that I was lying to myself. It wasn't just physically that I'd never fit in. And if I couldn't find a niche in a school with three thousand people, what were my chances here?**

"Poor Bella." Jacob mumbled.

A few people nodded.

**I didn't relate well to people my age. Maybe the truth was that I didn't relate well to people, period. Even my mother, who I was closer to than anyone else on the planet, was never in harmony with me, never on the exact same page.** **Sometimes I wondered if I was seeing the same things through my eyes that the rest of the world was seeing through theirs. Maybe there was a glitch in my brain.**

Carlisle's frown that he'd been wearing through most of Bella's assessment deepened. "There's nothing wrong with thinking different or being different. It's actually a really good thing."

Most people in the room nodded. Sam, Jared, and the elders surprised that they had just agreed with a vampire. When Sam and Jared realized that they had forgotten that they were even in the same room with a vampire they stared at each other in amazement until Charlie started reading again.

**But the cause didn't matter. All that mattered was the effect. And tomorrow would be just the beginning.**

* * *

**I didn't sleep well that night,** **even after I was done crying. **

"My poor Bella." Charlie whispered.

**The constant whooshing of the rain and wind across the roof wouldn't fade into the background. I pulled the faded old quilt over my head, and later added the pillow, too. But I couldn't fall asleep until after midnight, when the rain finally settled into a quieter drizzle.**

"It rains every night. If she's going to survive here she's gonna have to get use to it." Embry said.

**Thick fog was all I could see out my window in the morning, and I could feel the claustrophobia creeping up on me. You could never see the sky here; it was like a cage.**

**Breakfast with Charlie was a quiet event. He wished me good luck at school. I thanked him, knowing his hope was wasted. Good luck tended to avoid me. **

"That's true." Charlie sighed.

**Charlie left first, off to the police station that was his wife and family. After he left, I sat at the old square oak table in one of the three unmatching chairs and examined his small kitchen, with its dark paneled walls, bright yellow cabinets, and white linoleum floor. Nothing was changed.**

**My mother had painted the cabinets eighteen years ago in an attempt to bring some sunshine into the house. Over the small fireplace in the adjoining handkerchief-sized family room was a row of pictures. First a wedding picture of Charlie and my mom in Las Vegas, then one of the three of us in the hospital after I was born, taken by a helpful nurse, followed by the procession of my school pictures up to last year's. Those were embarrassing to look at — I would have to see what I could do to get Charlie to put them somewhere else, **

"Well now that she's living here I wouldn't mind moving them." Charlie said.

**at least while I was living here.**

**It was impossible, being in this house, not to realize that Charlie had never gotten over my mom. It made me uncomfortable.**

No one said anything but Charlie looked very uncomfortable.

**I didn't want to be too early to school, but I couldn't stay in the house anymore. I donned my jacket — which had the feel of a biohazard suit**— **and headed out into the rain.**

The younger boys chuckled at the "biohazard suit".

**It was just drizzling still, not enough to soak me through immediately as I reached for the house key that was always hidden under the eave by the door, and locked up. The sloshing of my new waterproof boots was unnerving. I missed the normal crunch of gravel as I walked. I couldn't pause and admire my truck again as I wanted; **

"Why would you want to?" Paul asked in despair.

**I was in a hurry to get out of the misty wet that swirled around my head and clung to my hair under my hood.**

**Inside the truck, it was nice and dry. Either Billy or Charlie had obviously cleaned it up, but the tan upholstered seats still smelled faintly of tobacco, gasoline, and peppermint.**

"I just cleaned it out, before I came here." Jacob huffed.

**The engine started quickly, to my relief, but loudly, roaring to life and then idling at top volume. Well, a truck this old was bound to have a flaw. The antique radio worked, a plus that I hadn't expected.**

"That's surprising." Jared muttered.

**Finding the school wasn't difficult, though I'd never been there before. The school was, like most other things, just off the highway. It was not obvious that it was a school; only the sign, which declared it to be the Forks High School, made me stop. It looked like a collection of matching houses, built with maroon-colored bricks. There were so many trees and shrubs I couldn't see its size at first. Where was the feel of the institution? I wondered nostalgically. Where were the chain-link fences, the metal detectors?**

"Why would she miss that stuff. And why would they be in a school?" Paul asked.

"Some schools in dangerous areas have them." Charlie said. "And I'm sure even a few in good neighborhoods have them."

"And I don't think she liked them she just liked the familiarity of them." Carlisle reasoned.

**I parked in front of the first building, which had a small sign over the door reading front office. No one else was parked there, so I was sure it was off limits, **

"It is." Charlie muttered.

**but I decided I would get directions inside instead of circling around in the rain like an idiot. I stepped unwillingly out of the toasty truck cab and walked down a little stone path lined with dark hedges. I took a deep breath before opening the door.**

**Inside, it was brightly lit, and warmer than I'd hoped. The office was small; a little waiting area with padded folding chairs, orange-flecked commercial carpet, notices and awards cluttering the walls, a big clock ticking loudly. Plants grew everywhere in large plastic pots, as if there wasn't enough greenery outside. The room was cut in half by a long counter, cluttered with wire baskets full of papers and brightly colored flyers taped to its front. There were three desks behind the counter, one of which was manned by a large, red-haired woman wearing glasses. She was wearing a purple t-shirt, which immediately made me feel overdressed.**

**The red-haired woman looked up. "Can I help you?"**

**"I'm Isabella Swan," I informed her, and saw the immediate awareness light her eyes. I was expected, a topic of gossip no doubt.** **Daughter of the Chief's flighty ex-wife, come home at last.**

"I'm sure that is what they are thinking." Charlie chuckled.

**"Of course," she said. She dug through a precariously stacked pile of documents on her desk till she found the ones she was looking for. "I have your schedule right here, and a map of the school." She brought several sheets to the counter to show roe.**

**She went through my classes for me, highlighting the best route to each on the map, and gave me a slip to have each teacher sign, which I was to bring back at the end of the day. She smiled at me and hoped, like Charlie, that I would like it here in Forks. I smiled back as convincingly as I could.**

"I'm sure she saw through it." Charlie sighed. "Bella can't lie to save her life."

**When I went back out to my truck, other students were starting to arrive. I drove around the school, following the line of traffic. I was glad to see that most of the cars were older like mine, nothing flashy. At home I'd lived in one of the few lower-income neighborhoods that were included in the Paradise Valley District. It was a common thing to see a new Mercedes or Porsche in the student lot. The nicest car here was a shiny Volvo, and it stood out.**

"That's Edward's right?" Charlie asked.

Carlisle nodded. He was worried about how much this observant girl would see when she looked at his children.

**Still, I cut the engine as soon as I was in a spot, so that the thunderous volume wouldn't draw attention to me.**

**I looked at the map in the truck, trying to memorize it now; hopefully I wouldn't have to walk around with it stuck in front of my nose all day. I stuffed everything in my bag, slung the strap over my shoulder, and sucked in a huge breath. I can do this, I lied to myself feebly.** **No one was going to bite me. **

"Better not." Paul whispered so only those with super-hearing could hear.

**I finally exhaled and stepped out of the truck.**

**I kept my face pulled back into my hood as I walked to the sidewalk, crowded with teenagers. My plain black jacket didn't stand out, I noticed with relief.**

"She _really_ hates attention doesn't she?" Harry asked. He had been trying to figure out what would happen when Charlie found out about Vampires.

"She loathes it with a passion." Charlie chuckled.

**Once I got around the cafeteria, building three was easy to spot. A large black "3" was painted on a white square on the east corner.** **I felt my breathing gradually creeping toward hyperventilation as I approached the door. I tried holding my breath as I followed two unisex raincoats through the door.**

**The classroom was small. The people in front of me stopped just inside the door to hang up their coats on a long row of hooks. I copied them. They were two girls, one a porcelain-colored blonde, the other also pale, with light brown hair. At least my skin wouldn't be a standout here.**

**I took the slip up to the teacher, a tall, balding man whose desk had a nameplate identifying him as Mr. Mason. He gawked at me when he saw my name — not an encouraging response — and of course I flushed tomato red. **

"Bella blushes at the smallest attention." Charlie smiled.

**But at least he sent me to an empty desk at the back without introducing me to the class. It was harder for my new classmates to stare at me in the back, but somehow, they managed.**

"Of course they did." Jacob chuckled. "In this little town everyone is famous."

**I kept my eyes down on the reading list the teacher had given me. It was fairly basic: Bronte, Shakespeare, Chaucer, Faulkner. I'd already read everything. That was comforting… and boring.** **I wondered if my mom would send me my folder of old essays, or if she would think that was cheating. I went through different arguments with her in my head while the teacher droned on.**

Charlie tried to look disappointed, but ended up chuckling.

"Chief Swan!" Embry exclaimed, pretending to reprimand the Chief. "I'm surprised at you! Your own daughter thinking about cheating and you laugh."

Charlie smiled. "Bella has been reading those books since fifth grade. She has them all memorized down to the point where you could ask her what the fifth word in the second paragraph on page 20 is and she could answer in a heart beat." Billy, Carlisle , Charlie, and Harry chuckled.

**When the bell rang, a nasal buzzing sound, a gangly boy with skin problems and hair black as an oil slick leaned across the aisle to talk to me.**

**"You're Isabella Swan, aren't you?" He looked like the overly helpful, chess club type.**

**"Bella," I corrected. Everyone within a three-seat radius turned to look at me.**

**"Where's your next class?" he asked.**

**I had to check in my bag. Um, Government, with Jefferson, in building six."** **There was nowhere to look without meeting curious eyes.**

**"I'm headed toward building four, I could show you the way…" Definitely over-helpful. **

**"I'm Eric," he added.**

"Ah Mr. Yorkie." Charlie mumbled.

**I smiled tentatively. "Thanks."**

**We got our jackets and headed out into the rain, which had picked up. I could have sworn several people behind us were walking close enough to eavesdrop. I hoped I wasn't getting paranoid.**

"I doubt it." Jared smiled. "People are probably trying to figure you out."

**"So, this is a lot different than Phoenix, huh?" he asked.**

**"Very."**

**"It doesn't rain much there, does it?"**

**"Three or four times a year."**

"The opposite of here." Jacob said.

**"Wow, what must that be like?" he wondered.**

**"Sunny," I told him.**

**"You don't look very tan."**

**"My mother is part albino."**

"Bella don't say that." Charlie smiled. "He's going to think your serious."

**He studied my face apprehensively, and I sighed. It looked like clouds and a sense of humor didn't mix. **

"That wasn't funny." Quil frowned.

**A few months of this and I'd forget how to use sarcasm.**

**We walked back around the cafeteria, to the south buildings by the gym. Eric walked me right to the door, though it was clearly marked.**

**"Well, good luck," he said as I touched the handle. "Maybe we'll have some other classes together." He sounded hopeful.**

**I smiled at him vaguely and went inside.**

"I'll take that as a no." Jared laughed.

**The rest of the morning passed in about the same fashion. My Trigonometry teacher, Mr. Varner, who I would have hated anyway just because of the subject he taught, was the only one who made me stand in front of the class and introduce myself. **

"How evil that man is!" Paul laughed.

**I stammered, blushed, and tripped over my own boots on the way to my seat.**

"Okay, I see her point." Seth frowned. "If I were that clumsy I wouldn't want any attention either."

Jacob, Embry, and Quil nodded.

**After two classes, I started to recognize several of the faces in each class. There was always someone braver than the others who would introduce themselves and ask me questions about how I was liking Forks. I tried to be diplomatic, but mostly I just lied a lot.**

"Is she trying to fit in or be left alone?" Jared asked.

"I would think trying to be left alone." Sam guessed.

"Me to." Charlie nodded. "While she wishes she looked different and have friends, I think she would miss being an individual instead of being part of the crowd."

**At least I never needed the map.**

**One girl sat next to me in both Trig and Spanish, and she walked with me to the cafeteria for lunch. She was tiny, several inches shorter than my five feet four inches, but her wildly curly dark hair made up a lot of the difference between our heights. **

**I couldn't remember her name, so I smiled and nodded as she prattled about teachers and classes. I didn't try to keep up.**

"Miss Stanley by the sound of it." Charlie murmured. Her mother talked endlessly too.

**We sat at the end of a full table with several of her friends, who she introduced to me. I forgot all their names as soon as she spoke them. They seemed impressed by her bravery in speaking to me. The boy from English, Eric, waved at me from across the room.**

**It was there, sitting in the lunchroom, trying to make conversation with seven curious strangers, that I first saw them.**

Carlisle tensed inwardly knowing what was to come, but to anyone looking at him he appeared totally relaxed and calm.

**They were sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, as far away from where I sat as possible in the long room. There were five of them. They weren't talking, and they weren't eating, though they each had a tray of untouched food in front of them. They weren't gawking at me, unlike most of the other students, so it was safe to stare at them without fear of meeting an excessively interested pair of eyes. But it was none of these things that caught, and held, my attention.**

"I assume these are your children right, Carlisle?" Charlie asked curiously.

Carlisle put on his most reassuring smile and nodded.

"The blood-suckers." Paul whispered quietly.

**They didn't look anything alike. Of the three boys, one was big — muscled like a serious weight lifter, with dark, curly hair.**

"That's Emmet?" Charlie asked again receiving a nod from Carlisle.

**Another was taller, leaner, but still muscular, and honey blond.**

"And that's Jasper?"

"Yes." Carlisle again summoned a smile.

**The last was lanky, less bulky, with untidy, bronze-colored hair.**

"That's Edward." Charlie said no longer asking.

**He was more boyish than the others, who looked like they could be in college, or even teachers here rather than students.**

**The girls were opposites. The tall one was statuesque. She had a beautiful figure, the kind you saw on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, the kind that made every girl around her take a hit on her self-esteem just by being in the same room. Her hair was golden, gently waving to the middle of her back. **

"And that ones…Rosie…Rose…?" Charlie tried to remember her name.

"Rosalie." Carlisle smiled a real smile despite himself. Rosalie would be furious if she knew he remembered everyone's name but hers.

**The short girl was pixie like, thin in the extreme, with small features. Her hair was a deep black, cropped short and pointing in every direction.**

"And that is Alice." Charlie smiled proud he remembered most of there names.

**And yet, they were all exactly alike. **

Carlisle did his best to look unconcerned.

**Every one of them was chalky pale, the palest of all the students living in this sunless town. Paler than me, the albino.** **They all had very dark eyes despite the range in hair tones. They also had dark shadows under those eyes — purplish, bruise like shadows. As if they were all suffering from a sleepless night,** **or almost done recovering from a broken nose. Though their noses, all their features, were straight, perfect, angular.**

Charlie and the young Quileute's frowned and glanced at Carlisle.

**But all this is not why I couldn't look away.**

**I stared because their faces, so different, so similar, were all devastatingly, inhumanly beautiful. They were faces you never expected to see except perhaps on the airbrushed pages of a fashion magazine. Or painted by an old master as the face of an angel. It was hard to decide who was the most beautiful — maybe the perfect blond girl, or the bronze-haired boy.**

**They were all looking away — away from each other, away from the other students, away from anything in particular as far as I could tell. As I watched, the small girl rose with her tray — unopened soda, unbitten apple — and walked away with a quick, graceful lope that belonged on a runway. I watched, amazed at her lithe dancer's step, till she dumped her tray and glided through the back door, faster than I would have thought possible. My eyes darted back to the others, who sat unchanging.**

Everyone who didn't believe vampires were real stared to realize that maybe just maybe they might be true, but they chose to ignore the truth for the sake of their sanities.

**"Who are they?" I asked the girl from my Spanish class, whose name I'd forgotten.**

**As she looked up to see who I meant — though already knowing, probably, from my tone — suddenly he looked at her, the thinner one, the boyish one, the youngest, perhaps.** **He looked at my neighbor for just a fraction of a second, and then his dark eyes flickered to mine.**

Charlie glared at the book, remembering that it was about both children. He had a feeling that Edward and Bella where going to be more than friends.

**He looked away quickly, more quickly than I could, though in a flush of embarrassment I dropped my eyes at once. In that brief flash of a glance, his face held nothing of interest — it was as if she had called his name, and he'd looked up in involuntary response, already having decided not to answer.**

Carlisle marveled at how much the girl picked up and hoped that the others would simply pass it off like humans normally do even with it all laid out before them.

**My neighbor giggled in embarrassment, looking at the table like I did.**

**"That's Edward and Emmett Cullen, and Rosalie and Jasper Hale. The one who left was Alice Cullen; they all live together with Dr. Cullen and his wife." She said this under her breath.**

**I glanced sideways at the beautiful boy, who was looking at his tray now, picking a bagel to pieces with long, pale fingers. His mouth was moving very quickly, his perfect lips barely opening. The other three still looked away, and yet I felt he was speaking quietly to them.**

Carlisle was amazed again by how much the girl noticed.

**Strange, unpopular names, I thought. The kinds of names grandparents had. **

Paul snorted and Jared grinned. They were thinking the same thing: This girl doesn't miss anything.

**But maybe that was in vogue here — small town names? I finally remembered that my neighbor was called Jessica, a perfectly common name. There were two girls named Jessica in my History class back home.**

**"They are… very nice-looking." I struggled with the conspicuous understatement.**

**"Yes!" Jessica agreed with another giggle. "They're all together though — Emmett and Rosalie, and Jasper and Alice, I mean. And they live together." Her voice held all the shock and condemnation of the small town, I thought critically. But, if I was being honest, I had to admit that even in Phoenix, it would cause gossip.**

**"Which ones are the Cullen's?" I asked. "They don't look related…"**

**"Oh, they're not. Dr. Cullen is really young, in his twenties or early thirties. They're all adopted. The Hales are brother and sister, twins — the blondes — and they're foster children."**

**"They look a little old for foster children."**

Jared chuckled and whispered to Paul, "Just a little to old."

Carlisle smiled softly thinking the same thing.

**"They are now, Jasper and Rosalie are both eighteen,** **but they've been with Mrs. Cullen since they were eight. She's their aunt or something like that."**

**"That's really kind of nice — for them to take care of all those kids like that, when they're so young and everything."**

Carlisle smiled at Charlie, beginning to relax now that everyone was ignoring Bella's thoughts on their appearance, "She's a sweet girl, Charlie."

Charlie grinned back, "She always has been."

**"I guess so," Jessica admitted reluctantly, and I got the impression that she didn't like the doctor and his wife for some reason. With the glances she was throwing at their adopted children, I would presume the reason was jealousy. **

Carlisle smiled slightly knowing this was true. He heard Edward complain about it a lot and Jasper and Emmet tease him mercilessly.

**"I think that Mrs. Cullen can't have any kids, though," she added, as if that lessened their kindness.**

Carlisle frowned, he was glad Esme didn't hear that it would of hurt her severely.

**Throughout all this conversation, my eyes flickered again and again to the table where the strange family sat. They continued to look at the walls and not eat.**

**"Have they always lived in Forks?" I asked. **

"No." Seth said remembering all the gossip that exploded down in La Push when they moved to Forks.

**Surely I would have noticed them on one of my summers here.**

**"No," she said in a voice that implied it should be obvious, even to a new arrival like me. "They just moved down two years ago from somewhere in Alaska."**

**I felt a surge of pity, and relief. **

"Why?" Emily asked curiously.

"Umm…" Carlisle thought for a second. "I think she pities them because they look like outsiders or loners. She doesn't know it is of there own making. I'm not sure why she is relieved. Maybe because they weren't born here either and she thinks they are beautiful so all the attention won't be on her."

**Pity because, as beautiful as they were, they were outsiders, clearly not accepted. **

Carlisle smiled. He was right.

**Relief that I wasn't the only newcomer here, and certainly not the most interesting by any standard.**

"Right again, Carlisle." Charlie remarked. Carlisle smiled a little more.

**As I examined them, the youngest, one of the Cullen's, looked up and met my gaze, this time with evident curiosity in his expression. **

Charlie frowned not liking the attention Edward was showing his little girl.

**As I looked swiftly away, it seemed to me that his glance held some kind of unmet expectation.**

"What's that about?" Sam asked.

A few people shrugged.

**"Which one is the boy with the reddish brown hair?" I asked. **

"Why is she asking about him and not the others?" Charlie asked glaring at the books.

**I peeked at him from the corner of my eye, and he was still staring at me, but not gawking like the other students had today — he had a slightly frustrated expression. I looked down again.**

"What's wrong with him?" Jacob asked.

**"That's Edward. He's gorgeous, of course, but don't waste your time. He doesn't date. Apparently none of the girls here are good-looking enough for him." She sniffed, a clear case of sour grapes. I wondered when he'd turned her down. **

"Why doesn't he date?" Quil asked Carlisle.

Carlisle sighed, "He's old fashioned." He chuckled in his head. "He's looking for a long term relationship not just a…fling. Most of the teenagers their don't care about love and that's what he wants."

**I bit my lip to hide my smile. Then I glanced at him again. His face was turned away, but I thought his cheek appeared lifted, as if he were smiling, too.**

**After a few more minutes, the four of them left the table together. They all were noticeably graceful — even the big, brawny one. It was unsettling to watch. The one named Edward didn't look at me again.**

"Bella seems quite fascinated by Edward and she hasn't even talked to him yet." Seth laughed, but stopped when Charlie glared at him.

**I sat at the table with Jessica and her friends longer than I would have if I'd been sitting alone. I was anxious not to be late for class on my first day. One of my new acquaintances, who considerately reminded me that her name was Angela,** **had Biology II with me the next hour. We walked to class together in silence. She was shy, too.**

"Miss Weber is a nice girl." Charlie nodded in approval.

**When we entered the classroom, Angela went to sit at a black-topped lab table exactly like the ones I was used to. She already had a neighbor. In fact, all the tables were filled but one. Next to the center aisle, I recognized Edward Cullen by his unusual hair, sitting next to that single open seat.**

"There's Edward again." Quil chuckled. "Maybe she will get to talk to him now."

Charlie glared at Quil who, fearing for his life, backed up and hid slightly behind Jacob causing everyone, but old Quil to laugh.

**As I walked down the aisle to introduce myself to the teacher and get my slip signed, I was watching him surreptitiously. Just as I passed, he suddenly went rigid in his seat. He stared at me again, meeting my eyes with the strangest expression on his face — it was hostile, furious. **

Sam, Emily, Harry, Billy, Old Quil, and Carlisle looked worried. Jared and Paul glared furiously at Carlisle. Everyone else looked confused.

"What's going on?" Charlie asked. "Why's he mad at her? She didn't do anything." He finished mad that Edward was glaring at his daughter.

**I looked away quickly, shocked, going red again. **

_Not good_. Carlisle thought. _That will only make it worse._

**I stumbled over a book in the walkway and had to catch myself on the edge of a table. The girl sitting there giggled.**

**I'd noticed that his eyes were black — coal black.**

More glares, and worried and confused looks. Paul and Jared growled quietly. Sam shifted a little to look at them and whispered, "This hasn't happened yet, we can stop it, if you calm down."

**Mr. Banner signed my slip and handed me a book with no nonsense about introductions. I could tell we were going to get along. Of course, he had no choice but to send me to the one open seat in the middle of the room. I kept my eyes down as I went to sit by him, bewildered by the antagonistic stare he'd given me.**

The wolves, Elders, and vampire all tensed, but they were a little less worried knowing it hadn't happened yet.

**I didn't look up as I set my book on the table and took my seat, but I saw his posture change from the corner of my eye. He was leaning away from me, sitting on the extreme edge of his chair and averting his face like he smelled something bad.**

_You can do it, Edward._ Carlisle thought_. You've been resisting for so long you will not lose now._

**Inconspicuously, I sniffed my hair. It smelled like strawberries, the scent of my favorite shampoo. It seemed an innocent enough odor. I let my hair fall over my right shoulder, making a dark curtain between us, and tried to pay attention to the teacher.**

**Unfortunately the lecture was on cellular anatomy, something I'd already studied. I took notes carefully anyway, always looking down.**

Carlisle trying to act normal, said, "She is advanced for her age then, Charlie."

Charlie nodded. "Yeah." Charlie said not paying attention.

Carlisle didn't bother even nodded. He knew no one was paying attention to him.

**I couldn't stop myself from peeking occasionally through the screen of my hair at the strange boy next to me. During the whole class, he never relaxed his stiff position on the edge of his chair, sitting as far from me as possible. I could see his hand on his left leg was clenched into a fist, tendons standing out under his pale skin. This, too, he never relaxed. He had the long sleeves of his white shirt pushed up to his elbows, and his forearm was surprisingly hard and muscular beneath his light skin. He wasn't nearly as slight as he'd looked next to his burly brother.**

"What is going on?" Quil asked.

**The class seemed to drag on longer than the others. Was it because the day was finally coming to a close, or because I was waiting for his tight fist to loosen? It never did; he continued to sit so still it looked like he wasn't breathing. What was wrong with him?** **Was this his normal behavior? I questioned my judgment on Jessica's bitterness at lunch today. Maybe she was not as resentful as I'd thought.**

**It couldn't have anything to do with me. He didn't know me from Eve.**

"Exactly, so what is this about?" Jacob asked.

**I peeked up at him one more time, and regretted it. He was glaring down at me again, his black eyes full of revulsion. **

Paul growled again, and was silenced by a glare from Sam.

**As I flinched away from him, shrinking against my chair, the phrase if looks could kill suddenly ran through my mind.**

"Well at least she knows she's in danger." Jared whispered to Paul, who nodded.

**At that moment, the bell rang loudly, making me jump, and Edward Cullen was out of his seat. Fluidly he rose — he was much taller than I'd thought — his back to me, and he was out the door before anyone else was out of their seat.**

Those who knew the truth sighed in relief. The others looked at them thinking they were insane.

**I sat frozen in my seat, staring blankly after him. He was so mean. It wasn't fair. **

"I want to know what was wrong with him!" Charlie demanded. Looking at the Wolves, then the Elders, and lastly Carlisle. "There is something you are all hiding and I want to know what it is. I'm not Police Chief for nothing. I noticed the looks and glares you've all been sharing and I want to know what's going on."

After a few seconds Carlisle sighed, "With Bella being so perceptive I am quite sure the book will tell you the answer. It would be best to wait until she figures it out."

Charlie looks at him suspiciously, but not unkindly, before sighing. "Alright, that's the best I'll get from you guys."

**I began gathering up my things slowly, trying to block the anger that filled me, for fear my eyes would tear up. **

"Why would she cry if she's angry?" Jared asked trying to relax.

"Some people cry when they're angry." Jacob shrugged.

"Bella always has." Charlie smiled a little. "Since she was born."

**For some reason, my temper was hardwired to my tear ducts. I usually cried when I was angry, a humiliating tendency.**

"It would be awful to look like you were sad when you were angry." Emily smiled. "It would be harder for someone else to make you feel better.

**"Aren't you Isabella Swan?" a male voice asked.**

A few people laughed knowing that would irritate her more.

**I looked up to see a cute, baby-faced boy, his pale blond hair carefully gelled into orderly spikes, smiling at me in a friendly way. He obviously didn't think I smelled bad.**

Paul and Jared chuckled.

**"Bella," I corrected him, with a smile.**

**"I'm Mike."**

"Probably Mr. Newton." Charlie frowned.

**"Hi, Mike."**

**"Do you need any help finding your next class?"**

**"I'm headed to the gym, actually. I think I can find it."**

**"That's my next class, too." He seemed thrilled, though it wasn't that big of a coincidence in a school this small.**

**We walked to class together; he was a chatterer — he supplied most of the conversation, which made it easy for me. He'd lived in California till he was ten, so he knew how I felt about the sun. It turned out he was in my English class also. He was the nicest person I'd met today.**

"I thought Edward Cullen was the nicest of them all, personally." Embry remarked thoughtfully. Making his friends laugh.

**But as we were entering the gym, he asked, "So, did you stab Edward Cullen with a pencil or what? I've never seen him act like that."**

_Why did he have to bring it back up? _Carlisle wondered.

**I cringed. So I wasn't the only one who had noticed. And, apparently, that wasn't Edward Cullen's usual behavior. I decided to play dumb.**

**"Was that the boy I sat next to in Biology?" I asked artlessly.**

**"Yes," he said. "He looked like he was in pain or something."**

**"I don't know," I responded. "I never spoke to him."**

**"He's a weird guy." **

**Mike lingered by me instead of heading to the dressing room. "If I were lucky enough to sit by you, I would have talked to you."**

The teenagers laughed. Charlie glared at the book again.

**I smiled at him before walking through the girls' locker room door. He was friendly and clearly admiring. But it wasn't enough to ease my irritation.**

"To bad Mikey boy." Embry laughed

"Mikey boy?" Emily asked.

"Yep." He nodded. Everyone just shook their heads at him.

**The Gym teacher, Coach Clapp, found me a uniform but didn't make me dress down for today's class. At home, only two years of RE. were required. Here, P.E. was mandatory all four years. Forks was literally my personal hell on Earth.**

Charlie just sighed and shook his head sadly.

**I watched four volleyball games running simultaneously. Remembering how many injuries I had sustained — and inflicted — playing volleyball, I felt faintly nauseated.**

"I wish she went to our school." Quil sighed.

"Why." Sam asked.

"Cause I want to be in her P.E class. It would be hilarious." Quil smiled.

Jacob and Embry nodded, "It would be funny." They agreed.

**The final bell rang at last. I walked slowly to the office to return my paperwork. The rain had drifted away, but the wind was strong, and colder. I wrapped my arms around myself.**

**When I walked into the warm office, I almost turned around and walked back out.**

"Let me guess," Harry smirked. "Edward Cullen is there."

**Edward Cullen stood at the desk in front of me. **

"You were right." Jared smiled.

**I recognized again that tousled bronze hair. He didn't appear to notice the sound of my entrance. I stood pressed against the back wall, waiting for the receptionist to be free.**

**He was arguing with her in a low, attractive voice. I quickly picked up the gist of the argument. He was trying to trade from sixth-hour Biology to another time — any other time.**

"Why," Charlie asked. "It sounds like he's leaving that class to get away from Bella."

When no one said anything he sighed and continued reading.

**I just couldn't believe that this was about me. It had to be something else, something that happened before I entered the Biology room. The look on his face must have been about another aggravation entirely. It was impossible that this stranger could take such a sudden, intense dislike to me.**

"She doesn't believe that does she?" Paul asked.

"I doubt it." Jared answered.

**The door opened again, and the cold wind suddenly gusted through the room, rustling the papers on the desk, swirling my hair around my face. **

Carlisle tensed, worried.

**The girl who came in merely stepped to the desk, placed a note in the wire basket, and walked out again. But Edward Cullen's back stiffened, and he turned slowly to glare at me — his face was absurdly handsome — with piercing, hate-filled eyes. For an instant, I felt a thrill of genuine fear, raising the hair on my arms. **

Everyone in on the secret tensed again. Charlie was angry and almost asked what was going on again, but thought better of it and continued reading.

**The look only lasted a second, but it chilled me more than the freezing wind. He turned back to the receptionist.**

**"Never mind, then," he said hastily in a voice like velvet. "I can see that it's impossible. Thank you so much for your help." And he turned on his heel without another look at me, and disappeared out the door.**

Carlisle sighed in relief and the others relaxed again.

**I went meekly to the desk, my face white for once instead of red, and handed her the signed slip.**

**"How did your first day go, dear?" the receptionist asked maternally.**

**"Fine," I lied, my voice weak. She didn't look convinced.**

**When I got to the truck, it was almost the last car in the lot. It seemed like a haven, already the closest thing to home I had in this damp green hole. I sat inside for a while, just staring out the windshield blankly. But soon I was cold enough to need the heater, so I turned the key and the engine roared to life. I headed back to Charlie's house, fighting tears the whole way there.**

"He made her cry." Charlie stated angrily.

"Here Charlie," Carlisle said after a moment of silence. "I'll read next."

Charlie nodded and handed the book to Carlisle.


End file.
